Excavator or other supporting means



V. G. ANDERSON.

EXCAVATOR OR-OTHER SUPPORTING MEANS. APPLI ATIQN HLED OCT. 21, 1918.

1,431,864. Patented Oct. 10, 1922.

Patented Oct. 10, 1922.

' UNITE-D STATES PATENT .orricn.

VINCENT G. ANDERSON, OF-PIT'I, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO FREDERICK C, AUSTIN,

' OF CH ICAGO, ILLINOIS.

/ p nxonvAroa 03 OTHER SUPPORTING MEANS.

Application filed October 21, 1918. Serial No. 259,008.

- To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VINCENT G. ANDER- SON, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Pitt, Minnesota, have invented a certain new and useful-Improve- -ment in Excavators or Other Supporting Means, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for supporting excavators or other heavy bodies on the ground, and more especially to those which travel ahead of the excavation, such,-

for-example, as drag-line excavators, and other similar excavating machines requiring strong and substantial supporting means.

The object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved construction and arrangement whereby the excavator or other heavy body will be firmly supported when shifted ahead over uneven ground, whereby breakage or straining will be less liable to occur.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction tending to increase the general efficiency and serviceability of supporting means of this particular character.

To these and other useful ends the invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. l is a plan of a drag-line excavator body equipped with supporting means involving the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section on line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line ll in Fig. 3.

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises a rectangular body frame having sides 1 and front and rear ends 2 and 3. The propelling apparatus or means for moving the excavator forward from time to tame may be of any suitable character. A boom 4 is mounted in the usual or any suitable manner on the rear end of the body frame. The excavating apparatus may comprise a drag-line bucket (not shown) or any other suitable or Well known means.

The supporting means are as follows:

The rear end of the body frame is provided with rigid legs 5 at each corner of the frame the third leg 7 is in the center and is pivoted on the frame at 8, so that the frame may rock sidewise about the longitudinal axis formed by said pivot. At its lower end the leg 7 is pivoted at 9 on the shoe or runner 10, whereby the latter may tilt endwise onlythat is to say, can only tilt up and down at its front and rear ends, and does not tilt sidewise relatively to the leg; but the pivot 8 permits the runner 10 to tilt sidewise relatively to the body frame. Preferably, the lower ends of the legs 5 and 7 have a sort of ball and socket pivot with the shoes, so that the loose pivots do not sustain the weight.

Thus the body frame has a three-point bearing, so to speak, being supported at two points in the rear and at one point in front, whereby the excavator may be shifted around over uneven ground with less danger of twisting the frame, or of straining the other parts, and with less danger of breakage than heretofore. The three shoes or runners will always rest on the ground, even when traveling over uneven surfaces, and thus the excavator will be steady and will be firmly supported at all times.

The shoes or runners can be of any suitable, known, or approved construction, and these slide on the ground when the excavator or other heavy body is propelled or pulled forward. Vith excavators of this kind, it is common to use a propelling apparatus ofthe kind which has a walking movement (not shown), so that the body of the excavator is alternately raised and lowered, being lifted or partially lifted, while moved forward. This is well understood, however, and no illustration or further explanation is required. With the body of the excavator supported at only one point atthe front but at two points at the rear, the danger of twisting or straining the body frame or other parts of the structure is practically reduced to a minimum, but at the same time the body is substantially and firmly supported, so that it will not wabble or teeterwhile the excavating apparatus is in operation. the shoes or runners can tilt around and automatically adjust themselves to uneven ground surfaces, but with only three shoes or runners, arranged as shown, and with the longitudinal center pivot for the upper end of the front leg, the shoes or runners will all rest on the ground under all conditions and regardless of the uneven character of. the ground surface.

- What I- claim as my invention is 1. In an excavator, a body frame, three sliding supports which give said body frame a three-point bearing on the ground, and means to support the body frame on said supports, whereby each support is self-adjusting under said frame, including provisions whereby one end of the body frame At the same time, however,

rocks about a longitudinal axis on the upper end of one of said supports, so that the body frame has a three-point bearing with the single or third bearing higher than the other two on said supports.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, said means including transverse pivots for said supports, whereby said supports are each free to rock about an axis ext-ending at right angles to said longitudinal axis.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, said provisions comprising a leg pivoted at its upper end on the body frame, thereby to form said longitudinal axis, and pivoted at its lower end to provide a transverse axis for said one support, a pair of rigid legs for said body frame, and means at the lower ends of said rigid legs to allow free tilting of the other supports about both transverse and longitudinal axes, thereby to permit self adjustment of the supports on the ground.

VINCENT G. ANDERSON. 

